


Homecoming

by SangriaKisses



Series: Take a Tumble with Me [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Introspection, Moving On, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Temari Week 2020, Temari centric, Tumblr Prompt, letting go, sand siblings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SangriaKisses/pseuds/SangriaKisses
Summary: There's nothing in the world like being home.
Relationships: Gaara & Kankurou & Temari, Nara Shikamaru/Temari
Series: Take a Tumble with Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988242
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my deer fawns. I wrote this during Temari week on Tumblr but never posted it on here. The prompt was: Reunion. If you read it on Tumblr I wanted to make it a little different so I added a little part to the end. Enjoy!

The area was a natural phenomenon out in the barren desert. A small oasis of green trees and plants with a pond in the middle of miles of sand. It was the perfect place for the previous Kazekage and his wife to have their final rest. 

“Hello mother, father. I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to visit in so long.” Temari placed a few gifts at the headstones. Various flowers and treats before settling down. Her fingers traced over the names etched in stone. Willing herself to imagine their spirits there with her.

“I’m getting married tomorrow.” She took a deep breath. Calming herself, centering her thoughts. 

“I just wanted to have a moment to talk to you. I pray that you are both at peace. Please know that you raised three wonderful children. I wish that you could be here to see it. Gaara is so strong now. Not just physically but mentally and spiritually. He has grown in all this time. He found peace along the path you set him on. Suna is prospering under his watchful eye.” She took a moment to remember the frightening monster that her brother once was. Now he was so much more. A dependable leader, brother, and friend. 

“Kankuro, well Kankuro is the same.” She grinned thinking about the puppet master. “He may joke, and he annoys me on a good day but I think that in some ways, he is stronger than all of us. Please don’t ever let him know I said that.” Kankuro had always been the annoying younger brother. In many ways though, he was her best friend. 

“As for myself. I’ve held onto a lot of anger for so long now. Mother, I hated that you left us. You left me. You weren’t there to protect us. I had to learn about love, the world, and my place in it without you. I wish you could be here to help me. To teach me how to be a good wife. I’m terrified about having my own child.” She brushed away those sorrowful tears. 

“I wanted to hate you forever father. I carried so much anger and resentment for what you put me and my brothers through. I hated what you did to Garra. How you taught us to treat him. I allowed how I felt about you to fuel me. Now I think that I have a better understanding. I’m not angry anymore. I want you to both know that I forgave you a long time ago. Perhaps you don’t need my forgiveness but I needed it for myself.”

“Father, you raised me to be fearless and selfless. To give everything that I am to Suna. I have done all that I could but it is time to move on. I will still continue to love and support my home but I have a different mission now. I would do anything for the Sand and my brothers but I can’t give up my heart. I’m sorry to leave Suna but it’s in good hands.” She choked back a sob as the realization began to sink in that she was leaving. 

“Shikamaru makes me so happy. I didn’t know that I could feel this way. That I was even allowed to. I’ve never known a love like this and I don’t think that I ever will again in this lifetime. I can be myself with him. I can be messy, cruel, soft, and vulnerable and it doesn’t scare him away. Even if it probably should. He makes me feel safe and I haven’t felt that way in so long. Shikamaru is my home now and I have to be with him. Marriage, being a wife, and having a husband. These were never things that I wanted. But I want these things with him. In all honesty, I think that he needs me more than Suna does.” 

A soft smile crossed her face as she thought about the pineapple haired ninja. “It’s silly huh, the famed Princess of Suna marrying a foreigner with no title or station. The Council gave us a hell of a time. I pray that you are not rolling in your graves. But please believe that he is the only person for me. There is no one in Suna or across the great nations that I could imagine loving more. I know that he will love and care for me in the way that I deserve. I pray that we can be just as happy as I believe that you two were.”

She stood up with one last longing glance, feeling the wind kick up around her. “Thank you both. Watch over all of us. I will be back before I leave to reintroduce Shikamaru to you as my husband. When our child is born he will know his grandparents. I love you both.”

She made the trek out of the hidden area, the desert sun drying her tears. Her steps were light as her heart was now unburdened. 

Shikamaru turned hearing her return and opened his arms out wide to her. She settled into his chest a kind of peace and love radiating from her. Knowing that this is where she belonged. He was her home.

He pressed soft kisses into her hair. “How was the reunion?”

“Good.” Shikamaru was thankful that she could have some peace. 

“Ready to be married to me?” He asked with a grin. 

She glanced up at him with an excited gleam in her eyes. Eager for this next chapter in life. 

“Absolutely.” 

*

**

“Do you think that they would have ever imagined that we are parents?” Gaara asked aloud as Shinki and Shikadai placed their various offerings in front of their grandparents’ resting place.

“I mean father was surprised that you had friends so I doubt it.” Temari teased him with a grin. 

“And as annoying and difficult as Temari is, I doubt that they ever thought someone would be crazy enough to want to commit for a lifetime.” Kankurou teased her right back throwing an arm around Shikamaru. 

Temari glared in return ignoring her brother. “I think you being alone isn’t a surprise to them either. It’s pretty obvious that no one would be desperate enough to be with you.” She shot back. 

“Aren’t these family reunions nice? Shikamaru commented before getting in between the siblings. He didn’t have a large family other than through clan bonds. The relationship that the Sand Siblings shared was something special and he was thankful that he could be part of it. 

They had all agreed that while their past wasn’t the greatest it was still important that Shikadai and Shinki knew about their grandparents. To understand their heritage and just what it took for them to be where they were. 

Temari gravitated to Shikamaru’s side to rest her head against his shoulder. She never took for granted the fact that she and her brothers were still together alive and well. And that they had Shikadai and Shinki to carry on their bloodline. 

She looked up at Shikamaru with a certain gleam in her eyes that he knew all too well. “What?”

“I was just thinking that it’s a lot on Shikadai to have to become the Nara clan leader and play a role in Suna.”

He studied her carefully. “What are you saying?”

“That maybe it’s a good idea to have someone else lighten that load.”

An excited grin crossed his face. “Tem? Do you do want another baby?”

“Not exactly, another one’s already on the way.” She revealed with a bright smile across her lips. 

His eyes shot wide open. “What?”

Her arms wrapped around him and she leaned in to whisper into his ear. “Yes, it’s time for a new princess of Suna.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that is how my OC Yoshika was born. If you read my story “Nursery Rhyme” she’s introduced there too. This is a different take on how they might have another child because they should have a daughter! I have this idea of InoShikaCho all having a second child and they form their own team too. I haven’t totally worked out what SaiIno and ChoKarui’s kiddos would be like. Still, it’s fun to think about. 
> 
> Thanks loves! I’ll add to this series periodically. Love you deers!


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